loose proton wrote:I just bought a bottle of the 2009 Wild Turkey Tradition (14 year, 101 proof). I cracked it open and gave a friend a sip, he thought it was just regular turkey. I tried a sip and thought the same thing. But then I tried it side by side with Rare Breed and found a new world of complex difference. I noted the amazing variety of flavors and rich, lingering after taste. It is wild turkey, no doubt, but really an amazing fiesta for the taste buds if you sit down and consider the flavors. Then I tried it side by side with 2009 Parkers, 2009 Noah's Mill, 2009 Stagg, 2008 Bookers, and I've got to say this latest offering is well worth trying a sip if ya can get past the price tag. Though the flavor was different, in an odd way it reminded me of Crown XR. Am I going to get another bottle? Maybe. Is it worth the price? To someone with an experienced palate and a few extra $$ to try something new, give it a try. But this is just my modest opinion.

I think loose proton has summed up some interesting characteristics of Tradition and compared it to some excellent bourbons in a very favorable light. I also like his comparision to XR (I like XR for its delicacy and soft sweetness), which I find appropriate and 'surprising' in a positive way.

Kudos to lp for his assessment and for following his own palate........against the inclinations of his friends!

Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rage at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas

How on earth did I miss this thread? I picked up a bottle of this here in VA for the standard 130.00. I am not one for paying this much for a bottle without a lot of well respected people giving reviews but I had the extra cash so I went for it.I have never felt so helpless drinking a bourbon before in my life. This bourbon like no other hits you in the face with lots and lots of flavors that play so well with each other but there are so many playing together that it just leaves me confused. I have tried this side by side with a number of other WT offerings and it blows them all out of the water. Just a sip and you know its WT but there is so much more. I will be holding a portion of this back til I have developed my taste buds more so maybe I can figure out why I love this more then any other WT.

I have been sipping on the Wild Turkey Tradition over the holiday week and I have to say its a fantastic bourbon. It has a delicacy to it in the mouth that I have not experienced with any bourbon with this much flavor complexity. The front offers vanilla, carmel and a touch of citrus with an explosion of spiciness in the back, yet nothing is overpowering and the layers of flavor are just amazing. I like this bourbon even more than KY Spirit,

I think for the price, I'm gonna leave this one alone. I still have some Tribute and American Spirit and a couple old 8 and 12 y/o. Maybe I would have bought it at 85.00, but then you can't get em all and I'm running out of places to put them.Joe

Bourbon Joe wrote:I think for the price, I'm gonna leave this one alone. I still have some Tribute and American Spirit and a couple old 8 and 12 y/o. Maybe I would have bought it at 85.00, but then you can't get em all and I'm running out of places to put them.Joe

I agree with you Joe. I have a number of various WT expressions and the price of this one makes this a non-purchase for me.

I hate to say it, but at the $125-135 price tag, this one is off the table for me as well. Erich may have found a couple up in Kansas for $95 each and I am going to sport for one of them to add to the WTs I have... I will wait for them to drop in price like the WTAS did...

So Linn here is the 130.00 dollar question. Is it worth it? I know Mike got his bottle down in GA and it was 100.00 but here in Va it sells for 130.I say yes. It is a bourbon unrivaled by anything I have had so far. Two of the ABC stores here in my town are carrying this and have only sold two of the 12 they have between them. And I bought one of those two. I plan on buying another bottle or two but I am looking to get all the Bowman bourbons first.

I just had a sip of this bourbon for the first time in a while. Tomorrow I am mortgaging Barleycorn's dog house (a second mortgage) in order to lay back two more bottles of this whiskey.

Fortunately, I do not need his signature on this second mortgage, and, in the best of worlds, I will give him a few sips of this exceptional whiskey.............in the worst of worlds, he will go without and I will greedily take his portion.............allaying my conscience (such as I have) with the fact that he is, after all, only a dog............and it is, as they say, a dog's life.

Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rage at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas